Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Ladies’ Paradise, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Consumerism and Excess
Women, Exploitation, and Power
Tradition vs. Modernity
Class and Mobility
Summary
Analysis
That Sunday, Madame Desforges serves tea to friends in her flat. Mouret is about to enter her drawing room when he notices Madame Desforges crossing the hall. Mouret goes up to her and kisses her hand. Madame Desforges tells him to be discrete, and then assures him that Baron Hartmann—the director of a bank—will be arriving soon. Baron was Madame Desforges’ financial advisor, and after her husband passed away, the two continued an affair. Madame Desforges is also having an affair with Mouret and has fallen in love with him, though she’s afraid that Mouret is only associating with her because he wants to connect with Baron. Mouret follows Madame Desforges into the drawing room.
It’s possible that Mouret is only having an affair with Madame Desforges because she has wealthy and powerful connections, such as Baron Hartmann. Mouret’s lifestyle and business model suggest that he views women as means to and end: he exploits them for their money, whether they are spending it at the Ladies’ Paradise or using their connections to help fund his business endeavors. Even Mouret’s marriage to Madame Hédouin was a marriage of utility, suggesting that Mouret is not concerned with love.
Themes
Madame Desforges shows her guests the fan she bought. Mouret follows her and bows to the guests, all of whom are women. One of the guests compliments the lace of the fan. Madame Desforges says she spent 25 francs on the lace and 200 francs on the engraved mount. The ladies pass around the fan. Another guest, Madame de Boves, shows the fan to her daughter Blanche. Madame de Boves then asks Mouret if 225 francs is a fair price for the fan.
Madame Desforges’s friends are interested in the quality of the fan for the price that Madame Desforges paid. Their interest makes them the perfect future customers for the Ladies’ Paradise: they want the newest fashions, but at the fairest price—a desire that the Ladies’ Paradise appeals to in order to gain loyal customers.
Themes
Before Mouret can answer, the door opens and another guest—Madame Marty—enters. Madame Marty apologizes for bringing in her red bag and says that it contains some purchases she made at the Ladies’ Paradise that she doesn’t want stolen. Excited, the ladies ask Madame Marty what she bought. Madame Marty is known for her spending, a habit that is ruining her husband (who’s a teacher). Madame Marty is about to open her bag when two more guests are announced. Afraid her husband is one of them, Madame Marty hides the bag under her chair. The guests turn out to be Monsieur de Boves and Vallagnosc, a childhood classmate of Mouret’s. Mouret and Vallagnosc shake hands and go into the small drawing room to talk.
Madame Marty is the first of Madame Desforges’s friends to cave to the enticements of the Ladies’ Paradise because she already has a tendency to spend wildly. Because she loves to shop, the Ladies’ Paradise appeals to her since it is piled full of things to buy, and because it offers everything at a low price. Madame Marty—although high class—is on the verge of bankrupting her husband, showing that the Ladies’ Paradise can create a downward as well as upward mobility: as the lower classes rise through employment, the higher classes sink through excessive spending.
Themes
Mouret and Vallagnosc sit laughing and reminiscing about their mischievous school days. Vallagnosc was always top of the class, whereas Mouret barely passed. Mouret asks Vallagnosc what he has been up to, and Vallagnosc replies that he has done nothing; he lives with his widowed mother and has a minor job in law, making 3,000 francs a year. Shocked, Mouret remarks that Vallagnosc’s aptitude for school never got him anywhere. Mouret adds that the idea of being a lawyer or doctor always frightened him, so he went into business instead.
Mouret and Vallagnosc’s conversation proves that education is not necessary to financial or social success. Mouret—as someone who was bad in school—became a wealthy businessman whereas Vallagnosc—who did well—has been unsuccessful. A lack of education—which used to confine a person to a lower class—does not prevent a person from achieving success in the business world.
Themes
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Vallagnosc says that Mouret’s diploma must be of no use in his drapery business. Mouret says it is obvious that Vallagnosc’s diplomas never made him happy. He then says that many of the people he employs have no education at all, and yet they are making millions. Mouret says that anyone with practical intelligence can make a fortune in these modern times. Vallagnosc insists that effort is useless. He once had lofty dreams, but life never lived up to his expectations. Indignant, Mouret says that he always enjoys himself. Not only does he have many affairs with women, but he acts, creates, and lives with passion. He dislikes those who don’t employ themselves in a world that is “pressing forward into the future.” Vallagnosc maintains that life’s only pleasure is in yawning at others.
Mouret and Vallagnosc’s conversation lays down a distinction between practical and scholarly education. Many of Mouret’s uneducated staff are rich because they have practical intelligence, suggesting that practical intelligence is more useful than formal education, and that it can’t be taught in school. Vallagnosc’s disappointment in life seems to stem from his lack of practical education: life fails to live up to his expectations because he has lofty notions—ideas that are not practical and were likely instilled in him in school.
Themes
Mouret laughs and says that Vallagnosc hasn’t changed. He promises to show Vallagnosc his “machine” in action and asks if Vallagnosc is still engaged to be married. Vallagnosc glances at Blanche and whispers that nothing is settled yet. Madame de Boves and Blanche are always hard up for money because Monsieur de Boves in always having affairs. Mouret watches Monsieur de Boves flirt with Madame Guibal, another of Madame Desforges’s guests. Mouret and Vallagnosc laugh at the scene. Madame Desforges—who loves to play matchmaker—set up Vallagnosc and Blanche, as well as Monsieur de Boves and Madame Guibal.
Although Madame Desforges’s friends are of the aristocracy, this doesn’t make them morally upstanding people. Some are going bankrupt because they shop too much, and Monsieur de Boves—a count—is going bankrupt because he is having an extramarital affair. Madame Desforges lowers herself by indiscriminately matchmaking, helping her friend’s husband cheat. In this way, the novel shows that people are aristocrats due to their birth and tradition, not because of their work or behavior.
Themes
Madame Desforges comes into the small drawing room followed by an old man. She comes up to Mouret and introduces the man as Baron Hartmann. Baron greets Mouret with a friendly but guarded air. Madame Desforges then escorts Vallagnosc back into the big drawing room. Mouret praises Baron’s work at the bank and then opens the subject of the new street near the Ladies’ Paradise; Baron’s firm financed the bank’s purchase of the street and the buildings. Mouret has always dreamed of expanding the Ladies’ Paradise, and so he wants to establish a connection with Baron. He hopes that their common interest in Madame Desforges will solidify their relationship.
The fact that Mouret has to charm Baron Hartmann into funding his expansion of the Ladies’ Paradise is a reminder that Mouret has gotten around the limitations of his class and his wealth in order to become successful. Mouret has no rich family from whom he can borrow money, and therefore must succeed through his charm instead. In this way, Mouret’s character suggests that a person can get around the limitations of their class through work and personality.
Themes
Laughing good-naturedly, Mouret describes the Ladies’ Paradise to Baron, explaining how it puts all its money into the business and gets back massive profits. He then suggests a partnership between the Ladies’ Paradise and Baron’s firm, which would provide space for an expansion of the Ladies’ Paradise. He wants to create a “shopping arcade” and can’t do it without Baron’s buildings. Baron compliments Mouret’s imagination but refuses to partner with him; he believes that Mouret’s gigantic drapery shop is a rash idea. Baron asks Mouret where he will get customers. In response, Mouret points to the drawing room. There, the ladies are busy discussing the latest fashions and deals.
Mouret wants to turn The Paradise into a “shopping arcade,” conjuring the image of the modern-day mall where one goes to have an entire shopping experience, not just on a practical mission to obtain something they need. Baron compliments Mouret’s imagination for this idea: nothing like the modern-day shopping mall yet existed during this time, and so, even though Mouret shows impressive perception of the future of shopping, none of his contemporaries understand him.
Themes
Mouret tells Baron how he plans to increase his initial capital tenfold. He explains that, although his profit on individual goods is small, his net profit is enormous because of how much he sells. Baron asks again where the customers will come from. Mouret remains silent so that Baron can hear the ladies in the drawing room talking about dressmaking. Mouret explains how, at the Ladies’ Paradise, he arranges various goods so as to ensnare his customers and make them buy more. He also displays his low prices in the window so as to make his customers feel that they are not being cheated.
Mouret—in pointing to the ladies in the drawing room chatting non-stop about fashions and prices—indicates that The Paradise’s projected customer base is all women. It is obvious to him that fashion and deals are central to the female experience, seeing as they spend their time discussing these matters. In appealing to what he believes are universal female interests, he obtains half of Paris’s population as his customer base.
Themes
Mouret explains that the Ladies’ Paradise is based on “the flesh and blood of Woman.” He exclaims that he understands women and has them at his mercy. Baron hushes him, but the ladies in the drawing room are busy talking fashion and prices. Mouret whispers in Baron’s ear that big business is about exploiting women. Big stores arouse desires in women and force them to buy. With the Ladies’ Paradise, Mouret has built a temple to women. Baron is moved by Mouret’s speech but warns him that the women will “have their revenge.” Mouret shrugs; he feels that women are his property. Mouret asks Baron again for a partnership. Before Baron can answer, the ladies call Mouret.
Mouret understands women’s shopping habits, so he sets up The Paradise to make them feel understood and satisfied. However, Mouret does all this for his own benefit, using his understanding of what women want to exploit them, therefore demeaning them. He champions the feminine, but he does not think of women as people—as entities capable of disillusionment and revenge. Rather, they’re just profits to him.
Themes
Mouret walks gallantly into the drawing room. The ladies gather around him and ask him about the big sale at the Ladies’ Paradise on Monday; they all say that they plan to come. They collaborate in pouring him tea and then they surround him with their skirts, asking questions. Mouret assures them that his silk is lovely and cheap and that he owns the exclusive rights to the design. The four ladies—who represent four different kinds of shoppers—have been speculating about the famous silk at the Ladies’ Paradise for weeks.
Madame Desforges’s friends feel that they can trust Mouret because they feel he understands exactly what they want. They are right that Mouret does understand what they want—good deals, exclusive fashions—but what they do not realize is that he is understanding only in order to trap them, causing them to spend faithfully at the Ladies’ Paradise and getting rich off of them.
Themes
Mouret tells the ladies about other wonderful materials at the Ladies’ Paradise. The ladies gather closer and listen in awe. Baron is impressed by Mouret’s seductiveness. Mouret informs Madame Desforges—who still buys her dresses from a local dressmaker—that this dressmaker buys her materials from the Ladies’ Paradise. He adds that this is because the Ladies’ Paradise sells things at a loss. The ladies, who love bargains, are won over by this fact. Mouret picks up Madame Desforges’s fan and tells her that the seller robbed her: he would sell the same fan for 90 francs.
As Baudu once explained, the local tradesman’s business model is to sell high quality items at a high price. Mouret realizes that this model doesn’t necessarily give people what they want, which is a deal. Therefore, Mouret’s modern approach to business is to profit from his customers by appealing to them and making them feel like they’re winning over the vendor—this is why Mouret makes a point to note that he sells merchandise at a loss.
Themes
The ladies pass around the fan again, this time less impressed by its beauty. Blanche remarks that the black lace is depressing, and Madame Guibal complains that fans like these always break. Unable to contain herself any longer, Madame Marty opens her red bag. With “the modesty of a woman undressing,” she shows the ladies the lace she bought from the Ladies’ Paradise. Madame Marty’s husband watches in dread, feeling that every piece of lace is destroying him. Mouret says that new shops improve the lives of the middle class, and Monsieur Marty glares at him.
Before Mouret told the ladies that the fan was overpriced, they had all thought it beautiful. As soon as he tells them that The Paradise would sell the same fan for cheaper, they all complain about the fan. This shows that Mouret’s pricing tends to manipulate a person’s taste; a cheap fan is beautiful whereas an expensive fan is not. Therefore, Mouret gets to his customers through price rather than quality.
Themes
The ladies unwrap Madame Marty’s lace purchases, becoming enraptured by them. They keep Mouret ensconced among them, as they feel that he has a sensitive understanding of their true selves. Their modesty disappears, and Mouret feels triumphant that he has them at his mercy. The sun sets and the white lace glows in the darkened room.
Mouret feels that the ladies are at his mercy when they are no longer being modest—that is, when they give in to their desires. This shows that a woman’s desires make her vulnerable to exploitation, while modesty—refusing to give into desire—may protect one from exploitation.
Themes
Observing that Madame Desforges has been taken in by Mouret, Baron privately warns the woman not to let Mouret “eat her up.” Madame Desforges guesses that Mouret is only using her to get closer to Baron, and she vows to make Mouret fall in love with her. Baron wonders if Madame Desforges is the woman who will “avenge the others.” Before leaving, Mouret pulls Baron aside to ask his verdict on their partnership. Baron says that if the sale at the Ladies’ Paradise goes well on Monday, then they have a deal.
Baron’s fear that some woman will avenge the others (that is, get revenge on behalf of all the women Mouret has exploited) echoes Bourdoncle’s earlier warning that the women will one day get their revenge. All of this implies that someday, Mouret won’t be in such a powerful position over women—at some point, they’ll somehow gain the upper hand. For now, it’s not clear how this might work out, especially as Mouret seems poised for even bigger and better things with the proposed shop expansion.
Themes
